Dunkin’ has crowned a new king, and surprisingly it’s Kylie Jenner.
No, we’re not totally certain either. Yet in a landscape where celebrities team up with fast-food and beverage brands left and right, we’re rolling with it. We’ve already reported on the launches, and now we’re sampling them side by side. The drinks appear under the King Kylie portion of the Dunkin’ menu, so let’s dive into what they are and how they actually taste.
Candy Pink Lemonade Refresher
This one stood out to me as the standout of the trio. It’s a lemonade refresher flavored with pink pineapple and dotted with pieces of dragon fruit. I’ve always had a soft spot for dragon fruit, so I went into this with high expectations. In my experience, the dragon fruit mostly contributes to the color layering rather than a strong fruity punch. My local Dunkin’, alas, forgot to include the dragon fruit fragments, so my cup came out a uniform pink. Even so, the drink was delicious. The pink pineapple’s sweetness mingled nicely with the lemonade, delivering something that leans sweet but with a tart edge and a wonderfully refreshing finish. It’s also a solid pick if you’re avoiding coffee. And during heatwaves like we’ve been having, this was pure delight.
Rating: 8/10
Vanilla Pink Cloud Latte
This offering is a French vanilla latte crowned with a blush pink Strawberry Cold Foam. On the first sip, I was hit by the fragrant strawberry aroma from the foam—the scent was bright and creamy rather than overly sweet. The rest of this review is a touch speculative, since I have a pet peeve with some chain coffee shops: they often burn the espresso or let it linger too long, turning the drink bitter. I don’t fault them entirely—speed and volume can cause that, and it’s part of the reason I often prefer non-coffee beverages. The concept here—strawberry and vanilla in a latte—has long been a staple, and Dunkin’s Strawberry Cold Foam is a nice fit for it. Problems arise because the espresso, in my cup, tipped toward bitterness and compromised the delicate vanilla-strawberry balance. If you trust a Dunkin location that consistently crafts good lattes, your experience could be better. If the espresso had been prepared properly, this could have been excellent. (As a side note, there’s also a chocolate-covered strawberry iced coffee on the menu that I’m tempted to try next.) This drink earns a 6/10 from me, as the flavor pairing is solid in theory but the execution felt a touch off.
Rating: 6/10
Pink Lemon Drop Suncloud Lemonade
This particular drink gave me a bit more trouble. The flavor isn’t bad; it’s just not the strongest. It’s a serviceable lemonade with strawberry notes, but I feel it could use a touch more kick to elevate it. My issue is less with the taste and more with a sense that this beverage already exists in Dunkin’s lineup under a different name. It resembles especially the Strawberry Sundrop Lemonade, but with an added emphasis on strawberry flavor. That extra strawberry would have helped; instead, I found this version somewhat bland for lemonade and strawberry combined. It also didn’t layer as nicely as I’d hoped, quickly blending into a pale pink rather than a striking layered look. If you’re chasing a visually striking, Instagram-ready drink, you might want to pick something else.
Rating: 4/10
Overall, these concoctions are respectable, if not groundbreaking. They aren’t exactly revelatory or wildly inventive. They’re good, and they could have been worse. I anticipated something more distinctive or creative, and for the most part these flavors feel like variants that could have appeared on Dunkin’s menu prior to the collaboration. The special appeal of the partnership is somewhat diminished if you could already grab these flavors before the official release.
Overall assessment: solid beverages that lean on familiar flavor pairings rather than departure from the brand’s existing offerings.
